Becoming Entirely Torah

במדרש מרפא לשון עץ חיים התורה מתיר הלשון ובתנחומא אז ידלג כאיל פ' ותרון לשון אלם ע"ש

The Midrash on the verse "A healing tongue is a tree of life" (Mishlei 15:4) teaches that the Torah unties the tongue; and in the Tanchuma on the verse "Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing" (Yeshayah 35:6), see there.

The Sfas Emes opens with two sources teaching that the Torah has the power to free and heal a person's speech, even one who is bound or mute.

דאיתא לפי שאמר מרע"ה לא איש דברים אנכי זכה לאלה הדברים דאיתא במדה שאדם מודד מודדין לו

For it is brought down: because Moshe Rabbeinu said "I am not a man of words" (Shemos 4:10), he merited "these are the words" (Devarim 1:1) — for as the Sages teach, by the very measure with which a person measures, it is measured back to him.

Because Moshe Rabbeinu humbly declared himself "not a man of words," he was rewarded measure for measure with the entire Sefer Devarim, "these are the words."

מרע"ה השתוקק להיות כולו תורה זה לא איש דברים אנכי

Moshe Rabbeinu yearned to become entirely Torah, and this is the meaning of "I am not a man of words."

Moshe's statement was not a complaint about a speech impediment but an expression of his desire to be wholly absorbed into Torah.

איש דברים להיות כולו תורה

He did not wish to be merely a "man of words" — rather, to become entirely Torah itself.

His aspiration was not merely to be eloquent, but for his very being to become Torah.

כי כן צריך להיות אדם שנק' מדבר צריך להיות בטל כל הכוחות וציור שבו לבחי' הדיבור וכח הנשמה ואלוקית שבו

For so must it be: a person, who is called a "speaker," must nullify all his faculties and his entire form to the aspect of speech, to the power of the neshamah and the Divine within him.

A true "speaker" must nullify all his personal faculties and self-image so that only the Divine power of his neshamah speaks through him.

וזה שרמזו חז"ל מי אנכי כי אלך הלא אמרת ואנכי אעלך כו'

And this is what Chazal hinted at: "Who am I that I should go?" (Shemos 3:11) — did You not say "And I will surely bring you up" (Bereishis 46:4)?

Moshe's words "Who am I that I should go" reflect this same bittul — he saw himself as nothing, relying entirely on Hashem's promise.

ובאמת נתקיים הדבר במשה שנעשה כולו תורה

And in truth, the matter was fulfilled in Moshe, for he became entirely Torah.

Moshe's yearning was actually realized: he became entirely Torah.

ושכינה מדברת מתוך גרונו וכתי' כה דברי כאש נאום ה' דרך האש כל המתקרב אצלו נהפך לאש

And the Shechinah would speak from within his throat, as it is written, "Is My word not like fire, says Hashem" (Yirmiyah 23:29) — by way of fire, for whoever draws near to it is transformed into fire.

The Shechinah spoke through Moshe's throat, just as fire transforms whatever draws near it into fire itself.

וכן נעשה מרע"ה כולו תורה

And so did Moshe Rabbeinu become entirely Torah.

Restating the point: Moshe Rabbeinu was wholly transformed into Torah.

ומעין זה כל העוסק בתורה מתהפך להיות בעל תורה כפי רוב העסק בתורה

And in a similar fashion, whoever toils in Torah is transformed into a master of Torah, according to the abundance of his toil in Torah.

This same transformation happens, in proportion, to anyone who toils in Torah — he himself becomes a vessel of Torah.

ובאמת כל הבריאה בכח התורה כמ"ש בראשית ברא הביט בתורה וברא

And in truth, the entire creation came into being through the power of the Torah, as it is written, "In the beginning [Hashem] created" (Bereishis 1:1) — He gazed into the Torah and created.

All of creation was brought into existence through the Torah, into which Hashem gazed as the blueprint for the world.

וכ"כ כל הנקרא בשמי ולכבודי כמ"ש חז"ל כל מה שברא הקב"ה בעולמו לא ברא אלא לכבודו אין כבוד אלא תורה שיש מכל ברי' איזה לימוד ודרך ללמוד ממנו כבודו ורצונו של הקב"ה זהו בחי' השירה שיש בכל דבר ולעתיד שיהי' מתוקן הכל ותרון לשון אלם כי מכל הלשונות יהי' מבורר כבודו ורצונו של הקב"ה

And likewise it is written, "all that is called by My Name and that I created for My glory" (Yeshayah 43:7), as Chazal said: everything that the Holy One, Blessed is He, created in His world, He created only for His glory — and there is no "glory" except Torah. For from every created thing there is some lesson and some path by which to learn from it the glory and the will of the Holy One, Blessed is He. This is the aspect of the song that is found in every thing; and in the future, when all will be set aright, "the tongue of the mute will sing," for from all the tongues the glory and will of the Holy One, Blessed is He, will be made clear.

Everything was created for Hashem's glory, which is Torah, because every created thing teaches some lesson about His will; this is the hidden "song" within all things, which will be fully revealed in the future when even the mute tongue will sing.

אך עתה הלשון נאלם והגשמיות מכסה שלא יהי' ניכר הפנימיות הגנוז בו

But now the tongue is mute, and the physicality covers over it, so that the inner dimension hidden within it is not recognized.

Right now this inner song is silenced, because the physical surface of things conceals the inner spiritual truth within them.

ובכח לשון הקודש שניתן לבנ"י יהי' תיקון לכל הלשונות וכמ"ש באר את התורה בשבעים לשון

And through the power of lashon hakodesh, which was given to Bnei Yisrael, there will be a rectification for all the tongues, as it is written, "explain the Torah" (Devarim 1:5) — in seventy languages.

Through lashon hakodesh, entrusted to Bnei Yisrael, all the world's languages will be rectified, as the Torah was explained in seventy languages.

וכן מ"ש אשר דיבר כו' במדבר בערבה כו' כל אלה המקומות היו מרוחקים מן הקדושה ומרע"ה פתח פתחים ושערי תורה גם בכל אלה המקומות מעין מה שיהי' לעתיד

And so too with what is written, "that he spoke... in the wilderness, in the plain..." (Devarim 1:1) — all of these places were distant from kedushah, yet Moshe Rabbeinu opened openings and gates of Torah even in all these places, a foretaste of what will be in the future.

Even the spiritually distant places where Moshe spoke became sites where he opened gates of Torah, a preview of the future redemption.

ז"ש הואיל באר התחיל

This is the meaning of "Moshe began [hoil] to explain [be'er]" (Devarim 1:5) — he began.

The word "hoil" (began) indicates that Moshe only started this work of opening the Torah to all places and tongues.

ומשיח בן דוד יהי' הגומר כמ"ש במ"א מזה:

And Moshiach ben Dovid will be the one to complete it, as I have explained elsewhere regarding this.

It will be Moshiach ben Dovid who finishes the task that Moshe began, as the Sfas Emes explains in another place.

Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that Moshe Rabbeinu's humble declaration "I am not a man of words" expressed his yearning to nullify himself completely and become entirely Torah, and measure for measure he merited "these are the words" — the entire Sefer Devarim. A true speaker must nullify his faculties so that the Divine power of his neshamah speaks through him; Moshe achieved this so fully that the Shechinah spoke from his throat, just as fire transforms whatever draws near into fire. This same transformation is available, in measure, to anyone who toils in Torah. Since all creation was fashioned through Torah for Hashem's glory, every created thing contains a hidden song revealing His will — now silenced by physicality, but destined to be revealed when "the tongue of the mute will sing." Through lashon hakodesh given to Bnei Yisrael, Moshe began opening gates of Torah even in distant places and tongues, and Moshiach ben Dovid will complete this rectification in the future.